{"title":"Cough-induced vertebral artery dissection: A case report and literature review.","authors":"A Khalid, A Summerbell, P Jha, A H Abdelhafiz","doi":"10.1177/14782715241290309","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14782715241290309","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spontaneous vertebral artery dissection (VAD) is common after minor neck trauma or abrupt neck manipulation, which may result in stroke. However, violent cough is a less recognised cause of VAD. Only a few cases are reported in the literature. We review the literature and report a case of a 62-year-old man who presented with a headache and neck pain following a period of intermittent coughing, which led to VAD and a cerebellar ischaemic stroke. He responded well to medical treatment and made a full recovery. Therefore, VAD should be considered in the differential diagnosis for patients presenting with neck pain and headache after episodes of violent coughing.</p>","PeriodicalId":46606,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh","volume":" ","pages":"298-303"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142401598","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Storytelling: A learning tool to enhance medical students' empathy, attentive listening, clinical curiosity and reflection.","authors":"Dibyajyoti Pattanaik, Emma Purvis, David Jeffrey","doi":"10.1177/14782715241299839","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14782715241299839","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Listening to stories of sickness lies at the heart of the patient-doctor relationship. Storytelling serves as a powerful learning tool fostering empathy, attentive listening, clinical curiosity and reflection, key elements of narrative competence. The patient's story, their history, forms the fundamental core of diagnosis, and their emotions are central to crafting appropriate treatment plans that address their true concerns. This study reviews the benefits of storytelling as a learning tool, particularly in enhancing empathy, attentive listening, clinical curiosity and reflection within medical education. It also describes a practical workshop that demonstrates how storytelling can be utilised to inspire students to develop narrative competence in a supportive learning environment. Since the stories draw on participants' clinical experience, in both primary and secondary care, the article aims to engage clinicians involved in medical education and the teaching of communication skills.</p>","PeriodicalId":46606,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh","volume":" ","pages":"325-329"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142629912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Making the transition from medical student to junior doctor.","authors":"Isaac Ks Ng","doi":"10.1177/14782715241299837","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14782715241299837","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The transition between medical students and junior doctors is known to be a notoriously challenging period of time, contributed by heavy clinical responsibilities, steep learning curves, poor working conditions and various psychological stressors. In addition, there is often a significant lack of support at the organisational or health systems level for fledgling junior physicians in their transition to work life. In this article, I hope to offer several important guiding principles from the perspectives of a medical resident-in-training that I hope will be useful for graduating medical students to ease their transition into the foundational year of practice, such that they can optimise their training and work experience within what is in their control and maintain a sense of purpose even in difficult times.</p>","PeriodicalId":46606,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh","volume":" ","pages":"316-318"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142649187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Isaac Ks Ng, Li Feng Tan, Wilson Gw Goh, Christopher Thong, Kevin Sh Teo, Desmond B Teo
{"title":"Revisiting the conceptualisation and implications of medicine's 'hidden curriculum'.","authors":"Isaac Ks Ng, Li Feng Tan, Wilson Gw Goh, Christopher Thong, Kevin Sh Teo, Desmond B Teo","doi":"10.1177/14782715241293814","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14782715241293814","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In medical training and practice, our professional attributes, attitudes, perceptions, character traits and identities are fundamentally shaped by our lived experiences and observations in clinical and para-clinical settings instead of being inculcated through formal curriculum or classroom teaching. For instance, clinical acumen, communication skills and bedside manners are learnt through role modelling and experiential learning in the course of clinical rotations. Likewise, one's attitudes, professional behaviours and inclinations are often also influenced by direct/indirect observations of the actions of others in the medical fraternity in various clinical and non-clinical settings. This is also what is often termed as the 'hidden curriculum' of medicine. In this article, we sought to provide a practical conceptualisation of the hidden curriculum in medical training, which we describe as lived experiences and personal observations of medical trainees and residents in clinical and para-clinical spaces, which shape their perceptions of the medical profession (vocational identity and purpose), patients (patient-physician relationship) and colleagues (intra- and inter-professional relationships), with downstream implications on physician well-being and clinical decision-making. Although this idea of a 'hidden curriculum' has conventionally carried predominantly negative connotations in medical literature, we suggest that it is an inevitable part of medical education and practice, which, through deliberate regulation, can potentially be shaped to create more positive and meaningful effects in the professional development of medical trainees.</p>","PeriodicalId":46606,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh","volume":" ","pages":"310-315"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142510186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lloyd D Hughes, Tara Verity, Liz Lawn, Deb Gompertz
{"title":"Proactive frailty in primary care: A primary care system fit for frailty.","authors":"Lloyd D Hughes, Tara Verity, Liz Lawn, Deb Gompertz","doi":"10.1177/14782715241286918","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14782715241286918","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Older adults with frailty are at increased risk of premature death, and numerous negative sequalae including falls, disability, and dementia alongside increased healthcare costs. Most healthcare interactions for older people with frailty take place in primary care, and there is increasing interface working between primary and secondary care to manage this patient group including virtual wards, frailty management programmes and Hospital @ Home. This commentary aims to place proactive frailty into recent policy perspective, alongside highlighting some of the current challenges around the implementation of proactive frailty programmes.</p>","PeriodicalId":46606,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh","volume":" ","pages":"280-283"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142378428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Features in this issue.","authors":"","doi":"10.1177/14782715241307590","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14782715241307590","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46606,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh","volume":" ","pages":"279"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142808180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Successful management of refractory Cushing's disease with severe hypercortisolemia using etomidate and temozolomide in post-surgical failure.","authors":"Neeti Agrawal, Debalina Sarkar, Subhankar Chatterjee, Pallab Sinha, Ranita Bhattacharya, Prabhat Ranjan, Partha Pratim Chakraborty, Rana Bhattacharjee","doi":"10.1177/14782715241293817","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14782715241293817","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Corticotropinomas account for 20% of all aggressive pituitary tumors and pituitary carcinomas and are associated with high mortality. These tumors not only cause neurovascular compromise but can also be fatal due to severe hypercortisolemia itself. Although surgery is considered the primary treatment modality, it is often partially successful or unsuccessful. Moreover, these tumors frequently recur and may be resistant to conventional treatments, including surgery and radiotherapy. Therefore, early multimodal treatment and regular follow-up are necessary. We present a case of aggressive Cushing's disease managed with combined temozolomide therapy and radiotherapy following an unsuccessful transsphenoidal surgery, resulting in significant long-term radiological and biochemical remission. In addition, etomidate infusion was administered to achieve rapid cortisol reduction, highlighting its role as a bridging therapy to other modalities in treating life-threatening and severe hypercortisolemia outside an intensive care setting.</p>","PeriodicalId":46606,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh","volume":" ","pages":"304-309"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142548139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"'No one has ever told us it will be fun'. Achieving fulfilment in medical practice.","authors":"Clive Weston","doi":"10.1177/14782715241293185","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14782715241293185","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Facilitating a tutorial with medical students who appeared unusually tentative and apathetic prompted me to reflect upon the intergenerational character of Medicine and consider how we might counter the pervasive pessimism that leads to demoralisation and disillusionment. Engaging in local Communities of Practice may allow clinicians, old and new, to maintain enjoyment and fulfilment in Medicine.</p>","PeriodicalId":46606,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh","volume":" ","pages":"322-324"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142510185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pellagra in chronic alcoholism: An underdiagnosed condition in modern clinical practice.","authors":"Anuja Rao, Sonika Garg, Vishal Gaurav","doi":"10.1177/14782715241298723","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14782715241298723","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46606,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh","volume":" ","pages":"332-334"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142629909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Renaming 'junior doctors' and beyond: Learning from international dialogue.","authors":"Clare Bostock","doi":"10.1177/14782715241287435","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14782715241287435","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46606,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh","volume":" ","pages":"319-321"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142477421","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}